ThorinOakenshield's Projects

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13 comments so far

This might be just a step stool or ladder but it’s done so well and it looks fantastic! I like the fact that you used NO hardware to build it. and the combo of woods are very attractive! Great work! Thanks for sharing! Tony

-- Tony C St Augustine FL, My high school shop teacher said "You can do it"... Now I can't stop!

what gets me is that we’ve been practically rebuilding my mom’s house and I use her various stepstools daily and think often , ” I should buy one of these. ” Then I get on here and see this lovely stepstool and have a V-8 moment, and feel like a complete idiot. ROFL Thanks for sharing and making me quit thinking windows, walls, and drywall. Now I’ll build one, too, hopefully as nice as your’s ! great job

What keeps the back leg from overextending? Is it just the pressure of the top? Seems like it might pop the top step off if the back leg starts to slide a little. I’ve seen this design and like the practicality of it, but every commercially available tiny ladder had a scissor hinge thingy between the front and back legs to prevent the over extension.

-- Matt CueBall Rosendaul. I don't think I've ever had a cup of coffee that didn't have cat hair or sawdust in it.

Juriathe – Thanks for your compliment. One of the other stools I reference mentioned a plan they found in a book to build this. I did not use any plans. The other link gave some loose measurements but I found them to be incompatible. If you are interested in any of the measurements I used just let me know.

CueballRosendaul – I thought the same thing too. However my confidence has grown with this stool. I (165lbs) stood on top several times and jumped on it (like a kid trying to break the ice on pond I know) and it didn’t budge. I attribute the strength to two things. The first is the 7/8’’ dowel that back legs are glued to and run the width of the stool through the front legs. This removes any slop on the rotation. The second is like you said, the top step catches the un-rounded edge of the back legs. The top step is fastened with 4 3/8 dowels glued on all edges in in the dowel holes. As I mentioned in the description, I didn’t use screws or nails which I think would have made the stool weak.

This was really built for my step mother to stand on to get thing in the kitchen or walk-in closet.

Mine is still in use, perfect condition. The flat part of the rear leg contacts the bottom of the top step it would take the top to separate from the front leg or a good portion of the top of the rear leg to crack off for this to fail. My dimensions are in inches. The step it 18” tall 21 1/2” long at the base when unfolded. the top step is 17 1/2” by 6 1/4”. The outside width of the front leg is 13 1/2”. With the front leg built first it should be somewhat easy to calculate the pivot point without any plans. The dowel could be replaced with a nut’s and bolt’s but it just looks better being constructed without any steel fasteners. I may make a few as Christmas gifts this year. It is interesting to see all the different wood combinations, I think that the next one I make will use different wood for each part. I used 4 Miller dowels to attach the top step to the front leg, they are very strong. This could have also been done with biscuit joints or even dovetail if you wanted to get real fancy. It is still a great project for beginners and advanced woodworkers. I made entirely from leftovers.